Rodney Williams’ comment on Twitter after the Gophers lost to Michigan on Thursday, Jan. 17, certainly seemed like a reaction to coach Tubby Smith’s criticism of a bad practice.

Smith had said his starters lacked intensity in practice the day before and that it “raised its ugly head” in the game.

Williams, a senior co-captain, then wrote on his Twitter page (@Will_I_Ams_33): “Damn we got threw waaaaayyyyy under the bus tonight fellas @Double__1 @AndreHollins @TMbakwe32 @aHolli_20.” The latter four Twitter accounts are those of Williams’ fellow starters: Joe Coleman, Andre Hollins, Trevor Mbakwe and Austin Hollins.

Some of those players retweeted Williams’ comment.

Williams said after practice Tuesday that he was reacting to people “outside” of the team with his tweet. But he said he still was sorry for letting out his frustration for everyone to see on social media.

With a two-game slide heading into Wednesday’s game at Northwestern (11-8, 2-4), Williams said he understands his coach’s message, saying the No. 12 Gophers (15-3, 3-2) needed to be sharper in practice to be more consistent in games.

The 6-foot-7 forward also said the team had to accept criticism and support one another when they struggle.

“I was just mad about everything, and I never should have made that comment,” Williams said. “There were times we were trying to point the finger, but at the same time, it was everybody. You’re out there to work together. When one person is not doing something well, you know it can mess everything up.

“But you’re supposed to have guys that can pick each other up. So that was just mental breakdowns from everyone as a whole.”

Smith later backed off making the poor practice a bigger issue. He said some starters, such as Williams and Coleman, were worn out from two-a-day practices during the winter break. Williams had a strained hip entering the Michigan game and tweaked his knee in the game, and Coleman had an ankle sprain. Both are healthier now, and the team is back to one practice a day with spring semester having started Tuesday.

“We had a situation where we had some guys dinged up, and you don’t want to go too hard and get someone hurt or that type of thing,” Smith said.

But Williams, who had 11 points on 4-for-12 shooting with four turnovers while fouling out against Michigan, didn’t use playing injured as an excuse for struggling.

“Not being there mentally, that really hurt the team,” Williams said. “The (injury) definitely wasn’t it. Things weren’t going my way early, and I kind of let myself get frustrated. I just got to get back to playing how I’ve been playing.”

Smith wants more consistency from Williams, whose production has dropped noticeably in Big Ten play. The Gophers coach has called out his seniors before, players such as Blake Hoffarber and Ralph Sampson III. And he’s doing it again.

“He’s got to be more aggressive,” Smith said of Williams. “He’s got to want the ball. He’s got to go to the basket and be stronger going to the basket, attack the rim. That’s what he does best. And he didn’t do that at all in that game. That’s something you expect your veteran players and seniors to do.”

Williams said the wake-up call for the starters should have come after the second unit embarrassed them in a scrimmage the day before the Michigan game. Usually, the first team dominates practice or there is competitive play. But the gold squad (reserves) did whatever it wanted against the maroon squad, much as the Wolverines did in shooting 55 percent from the field in the 83-75 win Thursday at Williams Arena.

“They came out and kind of got after us a little bit,” Williams said of the second team. “I don’t know what it was. They had shots falling. Our defense wasn’t as intense as it should have been during practice. I just think that’s what Coach was talking about.”

Things have been different this week, so maybe it will translate to Wednesday’s game.

“The starters didn’t come to play, according to Coach,” senior reserve guard Julian Welch said. “But they’ve been getting the better of us in these last few practices. Hopefully, that means we’ll be able to go out to Northwestern and beat them by a good margin.”

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